{"id":2459,"date":"2016-02-01T16:52:58","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T16:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/usa\/?p=2459"},"modified":"2024-11-04T15:36:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T15:36:11","slug":"america-pays-a-high-moral-material-price-for-its-alliance-with-the-saudis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/america-pays-a-high-moral-material-price-for-its-alliance-with-the-saudis\/","title":{"rendered":"America Pays a High Moral & Material Price for Its Alliance With the Saudis"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a no-nonsense analysis examining the high material, moral and ethical price Washington pays for its alliance with Saudi Arabia, Cato Institute Senior Fellow Doug Bandow suggests that it’s high time for the United States to abandon any illusions it might have about the nature of the Saudi regime, and ultimately, to disentangle itself from Riyadh.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Over the weekend, US Secretary of\u00a0State John Kerry arrived in\u00a0Saudi Arabia to\u00a0discuss bilateral and regional issues with\u00a0the country’s senior leadership. Attempting to\u00a0sooth the Saudis’ concerns that the Iran nuclear deal may have undermined the Washington’s commitment to\u00a0Riyadh, Kerry emphasized that this wasn’t the case.<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0We have as\u00a0solid a relationship, as\u00a0clear an alliance, and as\u00a0strong a friendship with\u00a0the Kingdom of\u00a0Saudi Arabia as\u00a0we ever had, and nothing has changed,\u00a0\u00bb Kerry said<\/a>, quoted in\u00a0a statement released by\u00a0the State Department on\u00a0Sunday.<\/p>\n

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\"US<\/div>\n
\u00a9 REUTERS\/ Jacquelyn Martin\/Pool<\/div>\n
‘Solid Relationship’: Kerry Reaffirms Washington’s ‘Strong Friendship’ With Saudi Arabia<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This, according to\u00a0Cato Institute Senior Fellow Doug Bandow, is the exact opposite\u00a0of the approach Washington needs to\u00a0take when it comes to\u00a0its relationship with\u00a0the Kingdom of\u00a0Saudi Arabia. Bandow lays out his case<\/a> in\u00a0the Washington-based foreign policy magazine The National Interest.\u00a0\u00bbWashington’s long relationship with\u00a0Riyadh was built on\u00a0oil,\u00a0\u00bb the analyst writes. However, \u00ab\u00a0there was never any nonsense about\u00a0sharing values with\u00a0the KSA, which operates as\u00a0a slightly more civilized variant of\u00a0the Islamic State. For instance, heads are chopped off, but\u00a0only after\u00a0a nominal trial. Women have no more rights, but\u00a0can afford a better life.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

The reality, Bandow, notes, is that \u00ab\u00a0the royals run a totalitarian system which prohibits political dissent, free speech, religious liberty and social autonomy. In its latest human rights report, the U.S. State Department devoted an astonishing 57 pages detailing the Saudi monarchy\u2019s human rights abuses. To the extent that personal freedom exists, it is only in\u00a0private. But even then the authorities may intervene at\u00a0pleasure.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/div>\n
\u00a9 Photo: Saudi Press Agency<\/div>\n
Squeezed Out of Syria, Daesh’s Next Target Could Be the House of Saud<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00ab\u00a0At a time of\u00a0heavy US dependence on\u00a0foreign oil, a little compromise in\u00a0America’s principles might have seemed in\u00a0order,\u00a0\u00bb the analyst, a former special advisor to\u00a0the president during\u00a0the Reagan administration, slyly noted.However, \u00ab\u00a0even then, of\u00a0course, the KSA could not control the international oil market and the royals could not long survive if they did not sell their oil. They needed buyers as\u00a0much, if not more than, buyers needed them.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Today, however, it\u2019s hard to\u00a0make a case that petroleum warrants Washington\u2019s ‘special relationship’ with\u00a0Saudi Arabia. The global energy market is expanding; Iran has begun selling more oil; new sources such as\u00a0tight oil have come on\u00a0line; US crude oil production is the highest it has been in\u00a0decades. Most important, the royal regime cannot survive without\u00a0oil revenues and has continued to\u00a0pump even as\u00a0prices have collapsed.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

From the geostrategic tack, Bandow recalled that Washington has used Riyadh in\u00a0recent years \u00ab\u00a0as an integral component of\u00a0a containment system against\u00a0Iran. Of course, much of\u00a0the ‘Tehran problem’ was made in\u00a0America: overthrowing Iranian democracy and empowering the Shah, a corrupt, repressive modernizer, led to\u00a0his ouster and the creation of\u00a0an Islamist state. Washington’s subsequent support for\u00a0Iraq’s Saddam Hussein in\u00a0his aggressive war against\u00a0Iran only intensified the Islamist regime’s antagonism.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Fears multiplied as\u00a0Tehran confronted its Sunni neighbors along\u00a0with Israel and continued the Shah’s nuclear program. Overwrought nightmares of\u00a0Islamic revolution throughout\u00a0the region encouraged America\u2019s fulsome embrace of\u00a0the KSA and allied regimes, such as\u00a0Bahrain, where a Shia majority is held captive by\u00a0a Sunni monarch backed by\u00a0the Saudi military.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

Held captive by\u00a0such strategic considerations, \u00ab\u00a0in Riyadh, Secretary Kerry [thus] declared America’s undiminished support for\u00a0the world’s leading feudal kleptocracy.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

However, as\u00a0with oil, the case for\u00a0Washington’s need to\u00a0support Riyadh due to\u00a0geopolitics has also \u00ab\u00a0become quite threadbare. The regime opposes Iran for\u00a0its own reasons, not to\u00a0aid America. And Saudi Arabia is well able to\u00a0do so. In 2014, the country came in\u00a0at world number four with $81 billion in\u00a0military expenditures, a multiple of\u00a0Iran’s total,\u00a0\u00bb which was only about $15 billion in\u00a0the same year.<\/p>\n

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\"US<\/div>\n
\u00a9 REUTERS\/ Saudi Press Agency\/Handout via Reuters<\/div>\n
Cracks Appear: Are Pillars of US-Saudi Partnership Trembling?<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The reality, Bandow argues, is that the real threats to\u00a0the monarchy, domestic in\u00a0nature and \u00ab\u00a0beyond Washington’s reach,\u00a0\u00bb include \u00ab\u00a0the kingdom’s general repression and particular mistreatment of\u00a0its Shia minority.\u00a0\u00bb This was demonstrated, the analyst recalls, by \u00ab\u00a0the recent execution of\u00a0cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who urged nonviolent opposition to\u00a0the monarchy.\u00a0\u00bbAs for\u00a0the government in\u00a0Tehran, whatever hesitation Washington might have about\u00a0the Islamic Republic, \u00ab\u00a0in contrast to\u00a0the KSA, there are (carefully circumscribed but\u00a0real nonetheless) elections, political debate, religious diversity, generational resistance and liberal sentiments.\u00a0\u00bb In fact, the analyst shrewdly suggests, \u00ab\u00a0shifting the US relationship with\u00a0Iran could dramatically improve the region’s dynamic.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

A High Material and Moral Price to\u00a0Pay<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ultimately, Bandow writes, \u00ab\u00a0whatever the alleged benefits of\u00a0the Saudi alliance, America pays a high price.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0First is the cost of\u00a0providing free bodyguards for\u00a0the royals. For this reason the United States initiated the first Gulf War and left a garrison on\u00a0Saudi soil. The inconclusive end of\u00a0that conflict led to\u00a0continual bombing of\u00a0Iraq even during ‘peacetime’ and ultimately the Iraq invasion. At the Saudis\u2019 behest, Washington backs their misbegotten war in\u00a0Yemen and remains formally committed to\u00a0the overthrow of\u00a0Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, the strongest force opposing the far more dangerous Islamic State.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Saudi Arabia also tramples American values beyond\u00a0its own borders. In next-door Bahrain, Riyadh helped suppress the majority Shia population and in\u00a0more distant Egypt the Saudis subsidized renewed military rule. The KSA also has underwritten extremist Islamic teaching in\u00a0madrasahs around\u00a0the world (Sunnis account for\u00a0roughly 85 percent of\u00a0all Muslims). Even Iran never attempted to\u00a0so effectively create an entire generation of\u00a0extremists. Moreover, Saudi money backed Al Qaeda and Saudis were among\u00a0the 9\/11 attackers. Similar private support for\u00a0extremist violence apparently continues. Yet Washington shields the kingdom\u2019s practices from\u00a0scrutiny, refusing to\u00a0release the section of\u00a0the 9\/11 report discussing Saudi funding of\u00a0terrorism.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

In the last few years especially, the analyst notes, \u00ab\u00a0Riyadh’s behavior has become more harmful to\u00a0America’s interests. The monarchy has been pushing to\u00a0oust Syria’s Assad without\u00a0worrying about\u00a0who or what would follow. To the contrary, Riyadh had subsidized and armed many of\u00a0the most extreme opposition factions.\u00a0\u00bb Furthermore, \u00ab\u00a0in Yemen, Saudi Arabia turned a long-term insurgency into\u00a0another sectarian conflict. In the process, the royals have been committing war crimes and creating a humanitarian disaster.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

As for\u00a0the Kingdom’s execution of\u00a0cleric Nimr, it has \u00ab\u00a0triggered sectarian protests in\u00a0Bahrain, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon,\u00a0\u00bb with\u00a0Riyadh’s subsequent break in\u00a0diplomatic relations with\u00a0Iran \u00ab\u00a0undermining political negotiations to\u00a0resolve Syria’s civil war. Yet after\u00a0all this, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir criticized ‘the mischief that Iran’s nefarious activities can do in\u00a0the region.'\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

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\"US<\/div>\n
\u00a9 AFP 2016\/ YURI GRIPAS<\/div>\n
With Friends Like Saudi Arabia, US Doesn’t Need ‘Enemies’ Like Iran<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the final analysis, Bandow notes, the United States and Saudi Arabia need a new relationship, one based on\u00a0pragmatism and realpolitik.Foreign Minister Jubeir had opined that he doesn’t \u00ab\u00a0believe the United States is under\u00a0any illusion as\u00a0to what type of\u00a0government Iran is.\u00a0\u00bb Nor, the analyst suggested, \u00ab\u00a0should Washington have any illusions about\u00a0the nature of\u00a0the Saudi regime. The two governments should work together when advantageous and disagree when appropriate. Sell weapons to\u00a0Riyadh without\u00a0committing to\u00a0provide a royal bodyguard. Most important, Washington should feel no inhibition in\u00a0attempting to\u00a0forge a better relationship with\u00a0Tehran. Balance should return to\u00a0American policy in\u00a0the Middle East.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

As a caveat, Bandow recommends that whatever Washington does, recognizing Riyadh’s role as\u00a0a destabilizing force in\u00a0the Middle East \u00ab\u00a0does not mean that the United States should attempt regime change\u2026America has proved that it isn’t very good at\u00a0overseas social engineering \u2013consider Afghanistan, Egypt, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Libya, Somalia, Syria and elsewhere.\u00a0\u00bb But at\u00a0the very minimum, Washington must \u00ab\u00a0stop lavishing attention, praise, support, and reassurance on\u00a0the Saudi royals.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a no-nonsense analysis examining the high material, moral and ethical price Washington pays for its alliance with Saudi Arabia, Cato Institute Senior Fellow Doug Bandow suggests that it’s high time for the United States to abandon any illusions it might have about the nature of the Saudi regime, and ultimately, to disentangle itself from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,40],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-moyen-orient","8":"category-pays-du-golfe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16348,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2459\/revisions\/16348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/algerienetwork.com\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}